Media release 29 August 2013

Media release

BASIS FOR PREPARATION OF PBO COSTINGS

"All PBO costings are prpared on the basis of the policy specifications provided by the parliamentary party or individual parliamentarian requesting the policy costing."

The Parliamentary Budget Officer, Mr Phil Bowen, made this statement today in response to reports about the PBO's role in preparing policy costings.

"PBO guidance issued on 9 May 2013 makes it clear that the PBO will not prepare costings of policies attributed to an individual parliamentarian or political party without the knowledge and active participation of that parliamentarian or political party in the costing process.

"When the PBO undertakes a confidential policy costing for an individual parliamentarian or political party, it relies solely on the policy details specified by that parliamentarian or political party.

"When an individual parliamentarian or a political party chooses to publicly release a PBO costing that has been prepared on a confidential basis for them, it is inappropriate to claim that the PBO has costed the policy of any other parliamentarian or political party.

"Unless all of the policy specifications were identical, the financial implications of the policy could vary markedly," Mr Bowen stressed.